Mother's Day Weekend

This past weekend was full of fun! On Saturday I took the children with me to our Parkway. It is a long, meandering stretch of sidewalk that follows the Jordan River through town for miles and miles. The children rode their bikes while I ran along side them. They LOVED it (and didn't even realize they were getting exercise!). At one point, I told them to go the long way around, while I took the shorter route (I know, I know, but they're on BIKES for crying out loud! Give a girl a break!); unfortunately, my son - who took the lead - took a wrong turn, and I ended up chasing them down, at full tilt speed for a good quarter of a mile before catching up to them. By the time I did, I wheezed out "You.... were... supposed... to ... turn... back... there....*gasp*!" To which my son replied, a little TOO calmly "But Mom, this mistake was a GOOD one because it meant you got EXTRA exercise in."

As for Mother's Day itself: well, my daughter was SO excited to give me what she'd made in her first grade class, she almost couldn't wait until the official Mother's Day to do it. She had done SO much! A card, a song, and best of all, a homemade book that she illustrated and wrote herself. She couldn't wait to show me that she "made books just like you, Mom!"

My son's teacher (3rd grade) didn't bother to help the children do anything for Mother's Day, but he was not deterred. He got up early and made me a paper flower in a paper vase that stood up all on it's own. It's beautiful because it's homemade and he chose my favorite colors - and he didn't wait for prompting of any kind.

These are the kinds of things I hope my children retain as adults: the sense of appreciation and sharing of positive energy to those that touch their lives; a sense of play and learning from mistakes. In short, I am trying my best to teach them a sense of not only responsibility and education, but a sense of self: of who they are and who they COULD become. The potential is endless. They just need the tools. I hope to share those tools with you, if you like!